OECD Space Forum

More than 60 countries have satellites in orbit, and satellite signals and data play an increasingly pivotal role in the efficient functioning of societies and their economic development. In co-operation with the space community, the OECD Space Forum was established to assist governments, space-related agencies and the private sector to better identify the statistical contours of the space sector, while investigating space infrastructure’s economic significance, its role in innovation and potential impacts for the larger economy. This unique international platform contributes to constructive dialogue between stakeholders and exchanges of best practices.

In 2017, The Space Forum Secretariat carries on its core missions: economic research, updating databases and indicators (with further work on innovation indicators, and downstream sector mapping in co-ordination with members), and continuing studies on evaluation and impact assessment by producing dedicated OECD working papers. Two new particular lines of research are launched in 2017: more research on space technology transfers (definitions, indicators, evaluation) and research on the LEO economy, examining the economic rationales and policies that can support -or not- the development of the low-Earth orbit (LEO) economy. The OECD Space Forum will also contribute substance to a large-scale OECD-wide horizontal project on the Digitalisation of the Economy.

After decades of innovation, satellites now play a discrete but pivotal role in the efficient functioning of modern societies and their economic development. This publication provides the findings from a OECD Space Forum project on the state of innovation in the space sector.